Six Fleet Management tips for increased efficiency

Within Fleet Management you can encounter different challenges each day. One of the main pressures is to continuously improve efficiencies and profits. Here are some tips to help you run a more efficient and profitable fleet.

How to reduce your running costs

Fuel expenditure, fleet insurance outgoings and vehicle maintenance are all running costs that need to be managed. A couple of tweaks in terms of improving diver behaviour and the routing of your vehicles can save fuel costs and in turn reduce fleet insurance costs and vehicle maintenance.

Focus on improving your fleet’s fuel efficiency and you will soon see the benefits filter through to your other cost segments. Investing in technology to help you analyse driver behaviour will help you to do this and will result in an upturn of profits over time.

Look to control your fleet’s mileage, by analysing the distance your vehicles cover and the fuel that is used. By addressing both of these areas you can build an accurate picture and identify inefficiencies in driving and perhaps where training may need to be implemented. It is also obviously important to record mileage accurately in order to protect against any fraudulent claims and to comply with HMRC rules.

Efficient routing of your drivers

Knowing the location of all your fleet drivers will help in running an efficient fleet. It is important to know the exact location so you can have a rough idea on how long they may be at a specific location, which direction they are heading in, and if they need re-routing to your next nearest job. Turn your fleet tracking data into information that helps you to improve fleet safety, compliance and overall efficiency.

Schedule maintenance appointments and keep them

Regular vehicle maintenance inspections can help to keep vehicles in a safe condition and to reduce vehicle off road (VOR) time. Daily checks before driving on long journeys should be encouraged as part of your policy.

Knowing when your vehicles are due for maintenance and having them serviced on time before any issues arise will not only save you time but also money. Staying on top of regular general maintenance and servicing will help you to ensure your vehicles are safe and efficient but also ensure that you aren’t left being unexpectedly let down by a vehicle that could have avoided repair through being maintained.

Clean vehicle selection

Ensure the vehicles that you select or offer your employees provide good safety features and minimal vehicle emissions. Company car tax will continue to be based on CO2 emissions until at least 2021 with the incentive being on adopting the cleanest of cars. By careful selection you can help to make your fleet more efficient through both tax savings and fuel savings whilst also looking after the environment.

Collect data for decision making

When it comes to your fleet’s performance you need hard data to base confident decisions on. Use of telematics and/or fuel cards with their limitless data, can help you to see which drivers and vehicles are adhering to policies, how much fuel is used or wasted and where savings can be made, etc. All fleets have the scope to make improvements in efficiencies and by analysing hard data you have the opportunity to do just that.

Keep your fleet drivers safe

Encouraging positive driving habits through reward and recognition can help to improve driver safety and alter behaviour patterns. Use of powerful telematics can monitor driver behavior, including problems with speeding, hard braking, or rapid acceleration. By adopting safer driving techniques you can also generally reduce fuel costs and ideally reduce the chances of an accident. Obviously every employer wants to keep their drivers safe and exercise their duty of care, but in addition to this reductions in minor accidents can also help to reduce costly repairs and maintenance making for a more efficient fleet.